DOCUMENT RESUME

ED 324 944

AUTHOR Abrate, Jayne

TITLE Applications of Computer-Aided Instruction inBusiness French Training.

PUB DATE 89

NOTE 13p.; In: Proceedings of the Annual Eastern MichiganUniversity Conference on Languages and Communicationsfor World Business and the Professions (8th, AnnArbor, MI, March 30-April 1, 1989).

PUB TYPE Speeches/Conference Papers (150)

EDRS PRICE MF01/PC01 Plus Postage.DESCRIPTORS Businesi Administration Education; *Business

Communication; *Computer Assisted Instruction; CourseDescriptions; *Courseware; Error Correction;Feedback; *French; Higher Education; IntroductoryCourses; *Languages for Special Purposes; SecondLanguage Instruction; Teacher Developed Materials;*Vocabulary Development

IDENTIFIERS *Drury College MO

ABSTRACTComputer software was developed by a faculty member

for college-level introductory commercial French to facilitatemastery of basic vocabulary and vocabulary manipulation techniques.The materials targeted three common areas of student difficulty:large amounts of new vocabulary, unfamiliar business concepts, andthe formal style of business writing and correspondence. It wasdecided to keep the software simple in format while incorporatingmaximum comments, extensive error correction information, andfrequent student analysis of materials. Instructions werestandardized to avoid confusion. Vocabulary software already used inelementary and intermediate courses was adapted for commercial Frenchvocabulary and coordinated with textbook chapters. Vocabularylearning exercises, emphasizing rapid acquisition of large numbers ofwords, generally consist of French-English and English-Frenchtranslation of individual voce-ulary items and short idiomaticexpressions or phrases. Multiple-choice vocabulary manipulationexercises were developed to ensure student understanding of meaningsand usage. Two verb programs provide systematic review of verb forms.Dictation and sertence translation exercises and a program forcomposing formal business correspondence were also developed. Allprograms were designed by an amateur programmer/language teacherusing readily-available hardware and could be easily adapted orimitated to fill the needs of beginning commercial language students.(MSE)

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Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be madefrom the original document.

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APPLICATIONS OF COMPUTER-AIDED INSTRUCTION

IN BUSINESS FRENCH TRAINING

U $ DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONOffice ce Educeionid Reausdi and Impro.ement

EDUCAIIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATIONCENTER (ER)C)

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"PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THISMATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY

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TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCESINFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)."

Dr. Jayne AbrateDrury College900 N. Benton

Springfield, Missouri 65802

Applications of Computer-Aided Instruction in Business

French Training

Dr. Jayne Abrate

Although the profession now generally accepts the value of com-

puter-aided instruction (CAI) in foreign languages, statistical

studies are lacking on CAI effectiveness in foreign language appli-

cations and on the advisability of specific pedagogical options.'

However, those who make use of computers for instructional purposes

have noted increased competence and confidence in their students use

of the language. Several possible explanations have been suggested

for this phenomenon, such as the lure of the computer causing stu-

dents to spend more time than they otherwise might with the material

or to use that time more efficiently. It is also likely that instan-

taneous error correction creates greater awareness of a wrong answer

and by stimulating a correct answer before the student can continue

reinforces conscious mastery of the material (Nelson, et al., 30).

CAI seems especially promising in commercial language courses where

the instructors are often recycled literature faculty who may perhaps

not feel as comfortable with business terms and techniques as they

would like or would simply like to provide their students with addi-

tional (roans of assimilating terms as well as concepts which are com-

pletely new to them. The combination of wide variations in student

knowledge of business in general along with the fact that the

1 Fischer offers some statistics for CAI in French.

2

instructor is often not an expert as he or she might be on a literary

or cultural topic, cries out for supplementary materials and method-

ologies which promote student acquisition and use of the new informa-

tion. This paper will describe some software this instructor

developed for introductory level commercial French designed to fac-

ilitate mastery of basic vocabulary and vocabulary manipulation tech-

niques.

These programs were developed at Drury College, a small liberal

arts college offering two levels of commercial French. Most of those

taking the course are at least fifth semester or equivalent language

students of var/ing abilities and backgrounds. About one-half are

business/ French majors, the others having a variety of different

majors. The first level course uses the text French for Business by

Claude LeGoff, and the Chambre de Commerce et d'Indus*:-ie de Paris

"certificat pratique" exam is the goal at the end of the second sem-

ester of study.

In developing and teaching these courses, the instructor noticed

three main problems which students seemed to have with the course

material. The course is advertised as French culture for business

rather than business in French which means that the business content

remains quite rudimentary. Nonetheless, students encounter

difficulty learning large amounts of, albeit basic, new vocabulary,

have problems mastering unfamiliar business concepts, and often have

trouble understanding and utilizing the particular formal style of

articles, reports, and correspondence. Since the use of CAI has met

with great success in regular language courses for verb form and

3

vocabulary acquisition, it was decided to incorporate CAI into the

commercial French program.

Students have access to a computer lab equipped with 16 IBM-PC's

as well as 8 IBM-PC's in the language laboratory and are required to

spend one-half hour per week using the software of their choice.

While more sophisticated uses of CAI are feasible, the level of the

course content and the most apparent student needs dictated the sel-

ection of very introductory types of programs. These include vocab-

ulary translation, vocabulary manipulation, both systematic and ran-

dom verb review, dictation, translation, and composition of corres-

pondence exercises.

A conscious pedagogica/ decision, also influenced by available

hardware and the laboratory setting, was made to keep the software as

simple as possible in format. No bells, buzzers, games, or fancy

graphics are used, while, at the same time, maximum comments, exten-

. sive error correction information, and frequent student analysis of

material are incorporated. The function keys are assigned each tima

to the same letter plus accent combinations in French, and instruc-

tions are standardized wherever possible. Thus, students do not have

to readjust to new formats or input requirements as they change exer-

cises as would be the case with randomly purchased software.

are reported to the user but not recorded. At present, there

Scores

are no

time limits, although these may be added later as an option for those

who wish the added stimulus. Two tries are allowed before answers

are furnished except in dictation and translation exercises where the

student may try as long as he or she likes, and pressing the return

5

4

key will cause a correct answer to be displayed immediately if the

student is at a complete loss.

Vocabulary software already used in elementary and intermediate

courses was simply adapted for commercial French vocabulary and coor-

dinated with the textbook chapters. The exercises consist basically

of English to French and French to English translation of individual

items and short idiomatic expressions or phrases. Up to four equiv-

alents are possible for each translation; for instance, le prix may

be translated as "the price," "the cost," "the prize," or "the

award." When working from English to French, the first meaning

choice, which is chosen to allow a one-to-one correspondence if

possible, becomes the cue; thus, le prix, le coist, and le tarif are

all acceptable translations of "the price." Definite articles ere

required with nouns where appropriate; l'achat would require "the

purchase" for a correct response, while for la qestion, "management"

would be acceptable as well as "the management" which could conceiv-

ably appear in a context. This feature encourages students to con-

sider gender and the use of appropriate uses of the definite article.

Error messages flag up to two accent errors, gender or article

errors, and a missing "to" with an English infinitive. In addition,

supplementary questions ask the student to determine if an infinitive

is regular, irregular, or a spelling change verb, to give the gender

of elided or plural nouns, or to give the feminine form of certain

irregular adjectives, such as financier/financitre.

While the value of vocabulary translation exercises may be

5

debated, for simple acquisition of large quantities of new words, it

is the students method of choice and probably the quickest way, al-

though further work with using the words must be accomplished for

them truly to assimilate the terms. Thus, to ensure that students

understand the meanings and use of the items, vocabulary manipulation

exercises were developed. These include the types of questions use-

ful in preparing for the CCIP "certificat pratique" as illustrated in

the LeGoff text, multiple-choice fill-ins, word families, synonyms,

and antonyms. In terms of software, the multiple choice format

allows detailed responses to incorrect student choicesP for example,

the translation of a wrong choice is given before the student is

asked to select again, and pressing return will provide the correct

response as well as its translation. Furthermore, the synonym/

antonym exercises, as do the translations discussed previously, allow

for as many as four possible correct responses. Error responses for

all but the multiple choice section are similar to those for the

vocabulary translation program.

The two verb programs are also adapted from software already in

use by elementary and intermediate classes. One version provides a

systematic review of verb forms by asking the student to complete a

standard verb paradigm using up to 120 verbs in 15 tenses. Error

messages indicate errors of accent, verb ending, reflexive pronoun,

helping verb, past participle agreement, or past participle

e Holmes and Hope et a/. both discuss various rationales forpresenting new vocabulary in context.

Holmes and Kidd examine further ways in which the multiple-choice format can be used to provide very specific error responses.

7

6

formation. The second version reviews verb forms randomly, and

content changes were made to include verbs commonly used in commer-

cial French, valoir, survenir, financer, acheter, diriqer, caterer, as

well as common irregular verbs, to reinforce both conjugation and

acquisition of vocabulary. Loosely coordinated with the textbook

chapters, students are given an infinitive, a subject, and a tense

and asked to supply the correct verb form. Error messages are the

same for both versions.

To conduct dictation exercises effectively: it is preferable to

have an interactive tape recorder system, but, until the equipment

becomes available, the following alternative is offered. The student

sits at the computer with a portable cassette recorder and head-

phones. He or she controls the tape manually, rewinding if necessary

(although four repetitions of a sentence are given), and then types

in his or her response. This is certainly more cumbersome than a

computer-controlled recording, but students who wish to practice

dictation do not seem to mind the inconvenience, and since no student

is required to use any particular software, those who do not wish to

tolerate the inconvenience may simply do another exercise. The

student's response is analyzed, and incorrect words are highlighted,

while those containing only accent errors are underlined. Besides

accent errors: error messages are otherwise keyed to parts of speech.

Thus, is a student cannot decipher a particular word, a help message

will indicate the part of speech required.

The creation of English to French or French to English trans-

lation exercises proves vastly more complicated. Even the most

8

7

carefully chosen sentences have alternative translations; word order

may vary; or students may seek to transform the sentences in ways

which are cemrect but difficult for an error analysis sequence to

deal with. This program tries to avoid some such difficulties by

keeping the sentences as straightforward as possible with one-to-one

correspondences (not necessarily word-to-word) between items and

their rendering in the target language. In addition, students are

instructed to maintain the same word order in their translation when-

ever grammatically or stylistically feasible. Up to three synonyms

are provided for individual words or expressions. Errors are in-

dicated for simple accent problems; for other problems, messages are

signaled by parts of speech such as article, verb tense, adjective

agreement, or incorrect preposition errors.

There are no try or time limits. A student can work on a trans-

lation as long as he or she wishes, ending by pressing ALT + Fl. A

first scan of the response recopies it highlighting correct words and

indicating if any words are out of order. It also causes words whose

crly problems are accent errors to be underlined and leaves blanks

for missing or wrong words. Thus, the student may see his original

entry as well as the indication of errors. The student may then

enter word by word responses for the -flanks without having to retype

the whole sentence. If the student has no clue, he may enter a ques-

tion mark for a help message which will indicate the part of speech

needed. Following a second incorrect response, this message will

also appear.

Although not available at present, eventually the student will

9

8

be able to print the translation for verification by the instructor.

The student is told to check with the teacher if he believes a

response is correct although it was not accepted by the program.

The final piece of software developed aids students in composing

formal correspondence. Since, in French, the structure of business

letters is so formulaic, it lends itself readily to a menu-type sel-

ection program. Students are asked a series of questions whose

answers trigger a menu of introductory phrases, sentences, or syn-

onyms from which he or she may choose. For instance, initial ques-

tions elicit the name and address of the expéditeur and destinataire,

the place and date cf composition, any previous references or pieces

jointes, and the salutation. Students are asked to decide whether

they wish to write in first person singular or plural, causing sub-

sequent menu choices to be displayed only in the le or nous form

selected and effectivel, eliminating a common student error. The

menu possibilities have been culled from Le Parfait Secrétaire and

numerous commercial correspondence manuals to provide standard for-

mulas for the various types of letters:'" accuse de reception, recla-

mation, passage d'une commande, annulation d'une commande, modifica-

tion d'une commande, rappel de oaiement, etc. The student types in

his or her choice, finishing the sentence where necessary or includ-

ing or adding any further specific information required. The soft-

ware does not compose the letter for the student but merely simpli-

fies and organizes the procedure one must follow in composing a

coherent, well-written letter.

4 See a list of these works at the end of the Works Cited.

in

9

This program works using WordPerfect word-processing software.

Once the student has composed a draft letter using the program, he

enters WordPerfect, retrieves the document through the "Text-In"

function, and proceeds to edit it into the po molettre format. In

addition, WordPerfect does an excellent job with foreign language

characters.

With the exception of the vocabulary translation and verb prac-

tice software, all these programs have been developed very recently

and are still undergoing modification as students use them and dis-

cover bugs, unforeseen alternatives, in addition to ways of improving

the programs' effectiveness. Certainly, there are more complex ways

of using the computer, simulation exercises, for instance, which are

frequently employed in business and economics courses. Adapted to

the foreign language and foreign business culture, these would also

be valuable learning tools for students of business language. How-

ever, in many settings, students do not have the business knowledge

to benefit from such software. Using readily available computer

hardware, the programs described here were written by an amateur

programmer/language teacher and could readily be adapted or imitated

by others. This software fills a definite need among beginning com-

mercial French students, helps reduce the frustration factor in the

first weeks of introduction to this specific use of language, and

frees class time for more communicative activities.

.

10

WORKS CITED

Fischer, Robert A. "Instructional Computing in French: The Student

View." Foreign Lanouaoe Annals, 22, 1 (Feb. 1989), 79-90.

Holmes, Glyn. A Cantextualized Vocabulary Learning Drill for

French." Computers and the Humanities, 14 (1980), 105-11.

, and Marilyn Kidd. "Second-Language Learning and Com-

puters." Canadian Modern Lanouaae Review, 38, 3 (1982), 503-16.

Hope, Geoffrey R., Heimy F. Taylor, and James R. Pusack. Usino Com-

puters in Teaching Foreian Lanquaoes, Language in Education:

Theory and Practice, No. 57. New York: Harcourt, Brace, Jovano-

vich, 1984.

LeGoff, Claude. French for Business. Paris: Hachette, 1986.

Nelson, R.W., and E.N. Adams. "Pilot Study of a CAI Laboratory in

German." Modern Language Journal, 52 (1968), 279-87.

French Business Correspondence Manuals

Eontemps, R., and J. SchoefYter. Correspondance commerciale et

techniques d'expressiqn Professionnolles. Paris: Nathan Tech-

nique, 1981.

Brazilier, J.-C., and M.-N. Etienne. Ccmmunication et correspondance

dans l'entreprise. Niveau 1. Paris: Hachette Technique, 1985.

Chaffurin, Louis. Le Parfait Secrètaire. Paris: Larousse, 1954.

La Corres ondance de l'entre rise avec son assureur. Paris: Centre

12

. :.

11

de Documentation et d'Information de 1"Assurance, 1983.

Girault, 0. La Redaction du courrier. Paris: Faucher, 1983.

Kulunkian, A.M. Correspondance et techniques d'expression profes-

sionnelles. Paris: Nathan Technique, 1985.

Morlot, N. and J. Drapala. Correspondance commerciale et techniques

d'expression professionne1le. Paris: Licet, 1985.

Sinou, Jean. La Correspondance pratique pour tous. Paris: Editions

André Casteilla, 1984.

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